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AN  ADDRESS 

DKLIVKIIED    AT 

PRINCETON,  NEW  JERSEY, 

AT    THE 

ANNUAL  EXAMINATION  OF  THE  STUDENTS 

OF  THE 

THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY, 
May,  1832. 


BY  THE  REV.  GARDINER  SPRING,  D.D. 
Pastor  of  the  Brick  Church,  New  York. 


ADDRESS. 


I  HAVE  never  appreciated  the  embarrassment  of  ad- 
dressing you,  my  young  friends,  until  I  am  now,  in  the 
providence  of  God,  called  to  this  service.  I  shall  not 
probably  suggest  a  thought  that  has  not  frequently 
been  suggested  by  those  who  have  been  called  to  this 
service  before  me.  But  if  I  shall  be  so  happy  as  to 
present  a  few  topics  before  your  minds  in  such  a  light 
as  shall  have  the  least  tendency  to  increase  and  extend 
your  usefulness  as  men,  as  the  ministers  of  Christ,  I  shall 
be  abundantly  gratified  in  the  few  moments  1  am  al- 
lowed to  enjoy  with  you. 

The  tendencies  of  piety  are  to  produce  good.  "A 
good  tree  bringeth  forth  good  fruiV^  The  high  aim 
of  the  true  Christian  is  to  be  useful.  This  is  the 
tendency  of  his  spirit,  his  affections,  his  desires,  his 
hopes,  his  efforts,  his  whole  renewed  character.  It 
is  not  that  he  may  be  a  splendid  7nan,  but  a  useful 
man. 

A  minister  of  the  Gospel  presses  after  a  prize  of  very 
questionable  lawfulness,  when  he  aims  at  being  a  splen- 


304  ADDRESS  TO 

did  minister ;  but  he  has  no  misgivings  of  conscience 
when  lie  honestly  aims  at  being  a  useful  minister.  He 
will  be  very  apt  to  be  disappointed  if  lie  aims  at  being 
a  great  and  splendid  minister;  but  he  will  rarely, 
if  ever,  miss  his  mark,  if  he  aims  at  being  a  useful  min- 
ister. 

You  have  a  thousand  times  been  told,  that  to  meet 
the  high  claims  of  the  work  for  which  you  are  prepar- 
ing, you  must  possess  ardent  and  uniform  jnety.  Your 
usefulness  will,  in  a  great  measure,  depend  upon  the 
power  which  the  religion  of  the  Gospel  exerts  upon 
your  own  soul.  To  this,  more  than  any  other  cause, 
may  be  traced  the  secret  power  of  such  men  as  Baxter, 
Edwards,  Brainerd,  and  Payson.  One  reason  why  so 
many  ministers  live  to  so  little  purpose  is,  that  while 
they  may  perhaps  be  good  men,  they  are  obviously  deji. 
cient  in  that  personal  piety  which  has  a  transforming 
effect  upon  the  heart  and  deportment.  God  and  heaven 
are  not  the  point  of  attraction  towards  which  their 
minds  and  efforts  are  perpetually  tending.  I  have 
known  ministers  of  splendid  talents  not  half  so  useful 
as  many  of  their  humbler  brethren  ;  and  who  probably 
will  not  be  found  in  those  illumined  departments  of  the 
heavenly  city,  where  they  "  that  turn  many  to  righte- 
ousness shall  shine  as  the  stars  for  ever  and  ever." 
You  never  can  be  faithful  ministers,  and  therefore  you 
never  can  be  useful  ministers,  without  fervent  piety. 
You  will  not  be  faithful  to  the  truth  of  God,  nor  to  the 
souls  of  men.  You  will  not  take  pleasure  in  your  work, 
nor  endure  its  trials,  nor  be  eminently  successful  in 


THEOLOGICAL  STUDENTS.  305 

winning  souls  to  Christ,  without  fervent  piety.  Piety, 
my  3'ounor  friends,  must  he  your  great  adornment,  and 
give  your  character  its  lustre.  The  bare  hopes  of  piety, 
and  even  its  predominating  graces,  ought  not  to  satisfy 
you.  Her  self  denying  spirit,  her  heaven-aspiring  affec- 
tions, her  exalted  and  humbling  joys,  her  unreserved 
self  devotement,  her  increasing  purity,  her  sweet  sen- 
sibility  and  tenderness,  her  absorbing  confidence  in  the 
cross,  and  her  deep  and  restless  solicitude  for  the  best 
interests  of  men  ;  these,  under  a  wise  direction,  will  not 
fail  to  make  you  useful  ministers. 

It  is  almost  too  obvious  a  remark,  especially  to  you, 
to  say,  that  to  be  a  useful  minister,  a  man  must  be  well 
instructed  in  the  oracles  of  God.  But  there  are  several 
reasons  for  making  this  remark,  just  at  this  time.  You 
have  the  best  opportunity  for  religious  instruction  of 
every  kind.  To  say  nothing  of  the  excellent  instruc 
tions  you  are  receiving  in  the  different  departments  of 
divine  learning,  immediately  from  the  Hnhj  Scriptures^ 
which  we  all  know  to  be  the  only  infallible  rule  of  faith 
and  practice,  the  standards  of  faith  adopted  in  this  Semi- 
nary, I  am  more  and  more  persuaded,  must  commend 
themselves  to  every  reflecting  and  sober  man.  I  know 
there  is  a  growing  prejudice  against  forming  and  sub- 
scribing creeds  or  confessions  of  faith ;  and  it  is  not 
surprising  that  this  prejudice  should  exist  in  a  youthful 
mind.  But  if  there  are  essential  doctrines  of  the  Gospel, 
and  if  these  doctrines  can  be  ascertained  and  defined, 
where  is  the  impropriety  of  embodying  them  in  some 
well  digested  formula  ? 


306  adUress  to 

By  nothing  has  the  baneful  influence  of  error  been 
go  generally  counteracted,  and  the  cause  of  truth  so 
generally  promoted,  as  by  judicious  confessions  of  faith. 
New  England  owes  her  orthodoxy,  under  -God,  to  the 
Assembly's  Catechism;  and  not  until  that  excellent  sum- 
mary  of  doctrine  fell  into  disuse,  did  some  of  her 
churches  decline  from  the  fdith  of  their  fathers.  Old 
England  too,  owes  its  remaining  orthodoxy  to  the  thirty- 
nine  articles..  And,  where  will  you  find  a  formula 
which  more  clearly  ascertains  and  defines  the  system  of 
doctrines  taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  than  the  Cate- 
chism and  Confessions  of  Faith  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church?  I  am  confident  you  will  appreciate  these  re- 
marks, gentlemen,  and  you  will  do  so  the  more,  the 
oftener  you  reflect  upon  them,  unless  you  yourselves  are 
carried  about  with  every  wind  of  doctrine,  and  fall  avray 
from  the  steadfastness  of  the  Gospel.  Equally  confident, 
am  I,  that  you  have  special  cause  for  appreciating  them 
at  the  present  crisis  of  the  American  Church.  Already 
are  there  such  departures  from  the  essential  truths  of 
the  Gospel  among  us ;  already  have  so  many  become 
wavering  and  unsettled  in  their  religious  sentiments, 
that  there  is  peculiar  obligation  on  those  who  are  pre- 
paring  for  the  sacred  ofiicc,  to  investigate  and  under- 
stand the  meaning  of  the  Bible.  Do  not  allow  your- 
selves to  be  satisfied  with  vague  notions  of  the  truth  of 
God.  To  this  we  have  seen,  to  our  sorrow,  not  a  few  of 
the  youthful  Ministry  are  exposed.  As  the  guardians  of 
this  sacred  Seminary,  the  Directors  have  not  a  little  so- 
licitude that  no  youth  should  go  from  these  walls  before 


TH£CLOGI(JAL  STUDENTS.  307 

he  has  formed  a  well  digested  system  of  religious  truth. 
Let  it  be  a  maxim  with  you  to  have  no  viewSy  only  so  far 
as  they  are  definite.  It  were  unspeakably  better  to  uii- 
derstand  a  few  truths  well,  and  to  know  them  certainly, 
than  to  expatiate  va,guely  over  the  extended  fields  of 
Christian  science.  The  certainty  of  knowledge  is  a  very 
different  thing  from  the  extent  of  knowledge.  Because 
you  may  have  but  a.  partial  and  imperfect  view  of  divine 
truth,  it  does  not  follow  that  you  must  of  necessity  be  in 
darkness  and  uncertaint}'^  in  relation  to  those  truths  with 
w^hich  you  are  familiar.  Though  no  man  that  ever  lived, 
should  perfectly  know  all  that  God  has  revealed,  this 
would  not  prove  that  he  does  not  know  many  things 
with  perfect  dejiniteness  and  certainty.  Tiiough  our 
natural  eye-sight  is  limited,  so  that  we  cannot  see  bc- 
3'ond  a  certain  circle,  nor  all  things  at  once  in  any  circle, 
yet,  we  can  see  one  thing  at  a  time,  and  that  clearly. 
The  same  is  true  of  the  understanding.  Though  we 
may  have  no  knowledge  about  some  truths,  and  though 
we  cannot  contemplate  and  compai-e  many  truths  at 
once;  yet  we  can  contemplate  one  thing  at  a  time,  and 
compare  a  few  things  together,  and  hence  come  to  a  de- 
finite and  certain  knowledge  of  .such  things  as  we  can 
discern  and  compare,  and  from  one  truth  clearly  discover 
another,  and  so  make  slow,  but  progressive  advance- 
ments in  knowledge.  And  thus  it  is  that  we  shall  see 
clearly,  and  exhibit  impressively  the  harmony,  connex- 
ion, and  consistency  of  the  great  truths  which  the  Gos- 
pel reveals.  It  is  this  dejinit'>.ness  of  view  which  we 
affectionately  and  urgently  recommend  to  you.      One 


308  ADDRESS  TO 

doctrine  of  the  Bible  consistently  understood,  will  al- 
most necessarily  lead  a  devout  and  inquiring  mind  to 
perceive  and  appreciate,  the  harmony  and  connexion 
which  run  through  all  the  peculiar  and  essential  doc- 
trines of  the  Gospel.  The  student  who  thoroughly  un- 
derstands one  doctrine  of  the  Gospel,  will  be  very  apt  to 
understand  another  and  another.  Once  let  your  views 
of  divine  truth  be  definite,  and  there  is  little  danger  that 
they  will  long  remain  distinct  and  prominent.  Clear 
and  definite  views  of  God's  truth,  combined  with  ar- 
dent piety,  go  far  to  make  a  useful  minister.  If  the 
treasures  which  infinite  wisdom  has  accumulated  in  the 
Bible,  abundantly  enrich,  and  adorn,  and  give  practical 
utility  to  the  Christian  character,  how  much  more  to  the 
ministerial  ?  Aim  at  high  attainments  in  Christian 
knowledge.  If  you  cannot  excel  in  every  thing,  excel 
in  this.  Labour,  study,  praij^  to  excel  in  this.  To  be 
burning  and  shining  lights,  you  must  feel  the  pre-emi- 
nent claims  of  religious  truth. 

Ano'.her  characteristic  of  a  useful  minister,  is  untiring 
diligence  and  energy  of  action.  It  was  not  by  his  talents 
merely,  nor  simply  by  his  fervent  piety,  nor  was  it  only 
by  his  enlarged  views  of  the  truth  of  God,  but  by  his 
indefatigable  diligence  and  action  combined,  with  these, 
that  the  Apostle  Paul  accomplished  a  greater  amount 
of  good,  than  was  ever  accomplished  by  any-other  man. 
The  life  of  a  useful  minister  is  an  eventful  life.  It  .is 
fruitful  in  benevolent  results.  His  energy  is  not  devel- 
oped so  much  upon  set  oecasions,  or  by  studied  effort : 
his  whole  life  is  full  of  labours  and  events  that  are  in- 


THEOLOGICAL  STUDENTS.  309 

timatcly  connected  with  the  best  interests  of  men.  I 
know  of  no  class  of  men  who  labour  more,  or  more  se- 
verely, than  FAITHFUL  ministeis  of  the  Gospel.  There 
are  good  ministers,  pious  men,  who  are  called  to  con- 
tend  with  most  inactive  and  sluggish  habits,  both  of 
body  and  mind;  and  there  are  those  who  are  never  satis- 
fied and  happy  unless  they  are  in  some  way  actively  em- 
ployed ;  and  the  difference  in  the  aggregate  of  good  ac- 
complished by  these  two  classes  of  men,  will  be  found, 
in  the  course  of  years,  to  be  immense,  and  almost  incal- 
culable. Let  every  young  man  who  is  looking  toward 
the  sacred  office,  settle  it  in  his  mind,  that  all  his  indo- 
lent habits  must  be  broken  up,  if  he  has  the  most  dis- 
tant hope  of  becoming  a  useful  minister  of  Christ!  If 
he  is  not  willing  to  harness  himself  for  labour,  he  had 
better  never  enter  the  field.  All  the  springs  of  his  life 
will  run  down  without  effort.  His  hope  and  courage  will 
sink  and  die  away,  if  he  has  no  spirit  of  enterprize.  He 
will  soon  become  a  burthen  to  himself,  and  a  cumberer 
of  the  ground.  Perhaps  I  conceded  too  much,  when  I 
said  that  such  ministers  might  be  good  men.  A  slothful 
minister  is  a  contradiction,  which  it  is  very  difficult  to 
reconcile  with  the  lowest  standard  of  holiness.  A  man 
who  is  born  for  immortality;  ruined  by  sin;  redeemed 
by  the  blood  and  Spirit  of  Jesus  Christ:  put  into  the  sa- 
cred ministry;  set  to  watch  for  souls;  promised  a  re- 
ward- that  outweighs  all  the  material  universe  ',  and  yet, 
murmur  at  hardship,  and  ccMiiplain  that  he  must  spend 
and  be  spent  in  the  service  of  his  Redeemer !  My 
young  friends,  we  liope  better  things  of  you.  God  ex- 
pects better  things.     The  Church  demands  them.     The 


310  ADDRESS  TO 

ag-e,  the  land  Vv-hieh  gave  you  birth,  and  nurtures  you  for 
scenes  of  toil  and  triumph  such  as  the  generations  that 
are  gone  have  never  witnessed,  expects  better  things  of 
you,  and  things  that  accompany  salvation  to  your  own 
soul,  and  to  this  dying  world. 

To  be  eminently  useful,  you  must  also  be  men  of  prayer. 
In  this  respect  every  minister  would  do  well  to  keep  be- 
fore his  mind  the  example  of  such  men  as  Luther,  Knox, 
Whitfield,  and  Martyn.  Nothing  has  so  powerful  a  ten- 
dency to  subdue  the  unhallowed  affections  of  the  mind, 
and  the  grosser  appetites  and  passions  of  the  body;  no- 
thing will  so  certainly  control  and  direct  your  thoughts, 
and  elevate  them  above  all  that  is  base  and  grovelling, 
trifling  and  little,  as  frequent  and  intimate  fellowship 
with  God.  The  great  secret  of  mortifying  a  worldly 
spirit  is  to  cultivate  a  heavenly  one.  "  Walk  in  the  Spi- 
rit, and  ye  shall  not  fulfil  the  lusts  of  the  flesh."  "  Be 
not  conformed  to  this  world,  but  fce  ye  transformed,  by 
the  renewing  of  your  minds."  No  where  docs  the  world 
appear  so  much  like  an  empty  shadow,  and  no  where  is 
its  baleful  influence  so  certainly  counteracted,  as  in 
sweet  communion  with  things  unseen.  You  will  find 
also,  that  prayer  furnishes  the  strongest  stimulus,  the 
most  powerful  incitement  to  self-denying  duty  and  toil. 
And.  who  has  not  observed  that  intelligent,  earnest 
prajier  improves  all  the  powers  and  properties  of  the 
soul,  and  wakes  up  the  mind  from  her  sluggishness 
and  apathy,  to  the  exercise  of  the  best  and  most  en- 
nobling affections?  No  where  does  that  wonderful  sys- 
tem of  truth,  that  "  mighty  range  of  motive,"  disclosed 


THEOLOGICAL  STUDENTS.  311 

in  liie  Bible,  obtain  its  sure  and  certain  dominion  over 
the  soul,  if  not  in  the  frequency,  seriousness,  and  joys  of 
familiarity  with  God.  Were  the  history  of  ministers 
made  known,  I  have  no  doubt  that  you  might  trace  the 
distinguished  usefulness  of  the  most  distiuguished  men 
to  their  closets.  If  you  will  review  your  own  history, 
I  think  you  will  not  fail  to  see  that  those  periods  of  it 
have  been  most  distinguished  for  usefulness,  that  have 
been  most  distinguished  for  prayer.  The  late^  Dr.  Fay- 
son,  in  suggesting  a  few  hints  to  a  youthful  brother  in 
the  Ministry,  among  other  most  valuable  remarks,  has 
the  following:  "The  disciples,  we  redid,  returned  to 
Jesus,  and  told  hirti  all  things ;  what  they  had  done,  and 
what  they  had  taught.  I  think  that  if  we  would  every 
evening  come  to  our  Master's  feet,  and  tell  him  where 
w^e  have  been  ;  what  we  have  done ;  and  what  where 
the  motives  by  which  w'e  have  been  actuated;  it  would 
have  a  salutary  eiFect  upon  our  whole  conduct.  While 
reading  over  each  day's  page  of  life,  with  the  conscious- 
ness that  he  was  reading  it  with  us,  we  should  detect  many 
errors  and  defects  which  would  otherwise  pass  unnotic- 
ed." It  is  this  familiarity  with  Jesus — they  are  these  un- 
affected approaches  to  the  throne  of  grace,  through  all 
the  sins  and  duties,  the  mercies  and  trials  of  his  course, 
that  make  the  useful  minister.  I  have  seen  ministers 
of  very  reserved  habits  in  their  intercourse  with  men, 
who  were  eminently  useful  because  they  conversed  with 
God.  You  will  greatly  abound  in  the  duty  of  prayer, 
if  you  are  ever  eminently  useful  in  the  sacred  office.  ' 
Tt  is  also  indispensable  to  distinguifelied  and  perma- 
cc  2 


312  ADDRESS  TO 

nent  usefulness  in  a  Minister  of  the  Gospel  that  he  mor- 
tify an  aspiring  spirit.  Do  not  contend  for  pre-emi- 
nence. If  you  are  thrown  among  those  who  contend 
for  it,  retire  from  the  conflict.  Strive  to  do  good,  and  if 
your  motives  are  impeached,  let  your  habitual  deport- 
ment be  your  only  defence  of  them.  I  say  again,  be- 
ware of  an  aspiring  spirit.  There  is  scarcely  any  thing 
that  has  a  stronger  tendency  to  neutralize  and  counter- 
act the  benevolent  designs  of  good  men,  than  a  self- 
complacent,  aspiring  spirit.  Beware  of  it.  Learn  of 
him  who  was  "meek  and  lowly  in  heart."  He  "that 
exalteth  himself  shall  be  abased,  and  he  that  humbleth 
himself  shall  be  exalted."  "  Pride  goeth  before  destruc- 
tion, and  a  haughty  spirit  before  a  fall." 

A  Minister  of  the  Gospel,  to  be  eminently  useful, 
must  also  be  distingnished  for  no  small  share  of  earnest- 
ness and  zeal.  On  this  point  I  feel  afraid  of  leaving  a 
wrong  impression  on  your  minds.  Zeal,  without  judg- 
nient  and  discrimination,  spoils  a  man  for  a  minister  of 
the  Gospel.  A  venerable  clergyman  once  said,  "  I 
would  make  deficiency  in  prudence  the  ground  of  quite 
as  serious  and  insurmountable  objection  against  laying 
hands  on  a  candidate  for  the  Ministry,  as  I  would  a  de- 
ficiency in  piety  or  knowledge."  Be  ye  "  wise  as  ser- 
pents and  harmless  as  doves."  You  have  seen  many  a 
man  who  possessed  commendable  qualifications  for  the 
sacred  oflace,  concerning  whom,  after  all,  it  might  be 
said,  he  is  not  a  safe  man.  You  may  possess  exemplary 
piety,  and  distinguished  talent,  but  without  practical 
wisdom,  you  cannot  become  a  useful  minister.    And 


THEOLOGICAL    STUDENTS.  313 

yet  discretion  may  degenerate  into  timidity ;  may  even 
lead  to  a  trimming  and  calculating  servility.  A  minis- 
ter's  character  that  is  formed  on  the  highest  models  of 
usefulness,  must  be  distinguished  for  decision,  energy, 
and  zeal,  as  well  as  self-diffidence  and  discretion.  There 
is  no  danger  that  your  zeal  will  be  too  ardent,  so  long 
as  it  is  the  expression  of  simple  benevolence.  Seek  not 
your  own  will,  but  the  will  of  the  Father  who  hath  sent 
you,  and  you  cannot  be  too  zealous.  Only  be  sure  that 
your  heart  glows  with  the  benevolence  of  the  Gospel, 
and  the  flame  cannot  rise  too  high.  True  zeal  will  find 
its  choicest  aliment  in  cultivating  the  spirit  of  Jesus 
Christ.  At  a  great  remove  from  that  false  fervour  and 
electric  fire  which  has  its  origin  in  a  selfish  and  ambi- 
tious mind,  which  hurries  men  on  to  act  without  con- 
suiting  the  sober  dictates  of  their  understanding,  and 
which  is  distinguished  for  its  subtilty,  turbulence,  and 
fickleness,  it  takes  its  rise  from  the  meek  and  gentle 
spirit  of  holy  love.  It  is  warmed  and  fanned  into  flame 
by  every  breath  of  heavenly  afiection.  It  is  simple,  be- 
cause it  has  nothing  to  disguise.  It  is  strong  and  steady, 
because  it  is  deliberate  and  cautious.  It  is  unwearied, 
because,  like  the  heaven-born  charity  from  which  it  flows, 
"  it  seeketh  not  its  own."  And  where  shall  we  look  for 
such  a  spirit,  if  not  in  the  ministers  of  Christ  ?  Where 
are  there  incentives  to  such  a  spirit,  if  not  in  the  cross  of 
Christ  ?  Where  did  Paul  find  it,  where  did  the  primi- 
tive Christians  find  it,  but  in  the  love  of  Christ  ?  What 
can  support  such  a  spirit,  but  those  awful  and  touching 
realities,  those  weighty  and  tender  truths  which  are  ex- 


314  ADDRESS  TO 

hibited  witli  such  irresistible  energy  and  vividness,  in 
that  wonderful  redemption  of  which  you  hope  to  become 
the  messengers  to  your  apostate  fellow  men  ?  A  slight 
and  cursory  view  of  your  great  work,  my  young  friends, 
will  not  answer  the  purpose  of  your  high  caUing.  Your 
minds  must  be  roused  to  the  importance  of  it;  you  must 
think  intensely,  and  feel  deeply ;  all  your  powers  of  body 
and  mind  must  be  awakened  and  invigorated  in  the  ser- 
vice of  your  divine  Master ;  nor  should  your  resolution 
be  impaired,  or  your  efforts  relaxed,  till  you  are  sum- 
moned from  the  field. 

There  is  another  topic  on  which  I  will  make  a  few 
observations,  which  has  an  intimate  relation  to  your  use- 
fulness, as  the  ambassadors  of  the  Gospel  of  peace  :  and 
that  is,  the  importance  of  exercising  a  kind  and  frater- 
nal spirit.  Charity  sufFereth  long  and  is  Jdnd.  Charity 
is  not  easily  provoked.  Charity  thinketh  no  evil.  Charity 
beareth  all  things,  hopeth  all  things,  endureth  all  things. 
O,  if  this  spirit  of  kindness — this  mutual  forbearance — 
this  patience  of  injury — this  freedom  from  suspicion  and 
jealousy — this  spirit  of  fraternal  love  and  confidence 
were  more  prominent  in  the  character  of  the  ministers 
of  Christ,  how  would  they  adorn  the  doctrine  of  God 
their  Saviour,  and  recommend  religion  to  the  world  I 
If  I  do  not  misinterpret,  nor  pervert  the  signs  of  the 
times,  the  day  is  near  when  there  will  be  a  peculiar 
demand  for  the  cultivation  of  this  spirit  in  the  iVmerican 
churches.  Deeply  does  it  concern  you,  to  wipe  away 
this  dark  and  foul  reproach  which  stains  the  ministerial 
character.     "  If  a  man  say,  I  love  God,  and  hate  his 


TIIEOLOOICAL  STUDENTS.  315 

brother,  he  is  a  liar;  for  if  he  love  not  his  brother  whom 
he  hath  seen,  how  can  he  love  God,  whom  he  hath  not 
seen?"  How  often  have  we  seen  the  usefulness  of  min- 
isters lamentably  circumscribed  through  the  want  of  a 
kind  and  affectionate  spirit !  There  are  ministers  who 
need  nothing  but  brotherly  kindness  to  make  them  pat- 
terns of  every  thing  that  is  praiseworthy.  I  know  that 
the  constitutional  temperament  of  good  men  is  various; 
but  there  is  no  apology  for  the  man  whose  external  light 
is  on  the  wane,  because  the  glow  of  kindness  declines 
within.  You  live  in  such  an  evil  world  ;  a  world  where 
there  are  so  many  occurrences  that  are  unavoidably  pain- 
ful— so  many  wrongs  to  be  encountered  and  forgiven, 
and  where  there  are  such  frequent  requisitions  for  the 
exercise  of  a  kind  spirit,  that  if  you  do  not  take  special 
pains  to  cultivate  it,  all  the  better  feelings  of  your  hearts 
will  be  suppressed,  and  the  manly  and  generous  spirit  of 
a  heaven-born  religion  will  lose  its  glory  in  the  envyings 
and  suspicions  of  an  earthly  and  selfish  mind. 

In  a  word,  gentlemen,  strive  to  possess  the  uniformity 
of  character  which  the  Gospel  requires.  It  is  woi:th 
much  effort,  watchfulness,  and  prayer,  to  guard  against 
the  more  common  faults  and  blemishes  of  ministerial 
character.  It  concerns  you  to  cultivate  every  grace  and 
virtue,  and  to  be  adorned  with  all  the  beauties  of  holiness. 
The  usefulness  of  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  depends  much 
on  this  uniformity  of  character.  As  "  dead  flies  cause 
the  ointment  of  the  apothecary  to  send  forth  a  stinking 
savour,  so  doth  a  little  folly  him  that  is  in  reputation  for 
wisdom  and  honour."     Little  things  have  more  to  do  in 


316       ADDEESS  TO  THEOLOGICAL  STUDENTS. 

the  formation  of  a  spotless  moral  character,  than  we  are 
at  once  willing  to  believe.  Especially  beware  of  little 
deviations  from  sterling  rectitude.  "  He  that  is  faithful 
in  that  which  is  least,  is  faithful  also  in  that  which  is 
much ;  and  he  that  is  unjust  in  the  least,  is  unjust  also 
in  much."  Little  things  exert  a  prodigious  influence  on 
the  character  of  the  ministers  of  the  Gospel.  It  is  im- 
possible for  the  man  who  neglects  them  to  command 
respect,  or  to  be  extensively  useful.  It  is  this  uniformity 
of  ministerial  character  which  conciliates  confidence  and 
veneration,  and  which  everywhere  bespeaks  a  benevolent 
and  elevated  mind.  Such  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  will 
not  live  in  vain.  He  may  have  his  superiors  in  some 
particular  traits  of  excellence,  but  in  that  happy  assem- 
blage of  excellencies  that  go  to  form  the  useful  minister 
of  Jesus  Christ,  he  is  one  of  the  lights  of  the  world. 


THE  END. 


INDEX. 


Page. 

An  Introductory  Essay.  By  the  Rev.  John  Breck- 
inridge. -  -  -  -  -         5 

Scripture  doetrine  of  a  call  to  the  work  of  the  Gos- 
pel Ministry.  By  the  Rev.  William  S.  Plumer, 
Petersburg,  Va.  -  -  -  -       19 

The  importance  of  a  thorough  and  adequate  course 
of  Preparatory  Study  for  the  Holy  Ministry.  By 
Samuel  Miller,  D.D.,  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical 
History  and  Church  Government  in  the  Theologi- 
cal  Seminary,  Princeton,  N.  J.  -  -  -       55 

Address  to  Students  of  Divinity.  By  Rev.  John 
Brown,  of  Haddington,  Scotland.  -  -       97 

Considerations  on  Foreign  Missions,  addressed  to 
candidates  for  the  Holy  Ministry.  By  Rev.  James 
W.  Alexander,  Trenton,  N.  J.    -  -  -     123 

Address  to  the  St.  Andrew's  University  Missionary 
Society  on  the  Duty  of  Personal  Engagement  in 
the  work  of  Missions.  By  John  Urquhart,  late 
of  the  University  of  St.  Andrews.  -  -     139 

An  Address  to  Candidates  for  the  Ministry  on  the 
importance  of  aiming  at  eminent  piety  in  making 
their  preparations  for  the  Sacred  Office.  By 
Archibald  Alexander,  D.D.,  Professor  of  Theology 
in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton,  N.  J.      173 

On  the  necessity  of  a  knowledge  of  the  Original  Lan- 
guages of  the  Scriptures.  By  the  Rev.  Charles 
Hodge,  A.M.,  Professor  of  Oriental  and  Biblical 
Literature  in  the  Tlieological  Seminary  at  Prince- 
ton, N.  J.  195 


318  INDEX. 

Page. 

Literary  diligence  recommended ;  a  Baccalaureate 
discourse  to  the  candidates  for  degrees  in  the  col- 
lege of  New  Jersey,  on  the  Sabbath  immediately 
preceding  the  annual  commencement  in  1820. 
By  Ashbel  Green,  D.D.  LL.  D.,  of  Philadelphia.    215 

Essay  on  the  wants  of  the  world,  and  the  way  to 
supply  them.  By  the  Rev.  William  Nevins,  A. 
M.,  of  Baltimore.  -  -  -  -    240 

Biographical  sketch  and  obituary  of  John  S.  New- 
bold 265 

Biographical  sketch  and  obituary  of  Rev.  Sylvester 
Larned.  -  -  -  -  -    287 

An  Address  delivered  at  Princeton,  New  Jersey, 
at  the  annual  examination  of  the  Students  of  the 
Theological  Seminary,  May,  1832.  By  the  Rev. 
Gardiner  Spring,  D.D.,  of  New  York.    -  -    301 


